The Strongest Curse Master

Janice glared at the Mars Guild's elder, seeing him jump using Matthews. She was just a moment away from using the curse array to sentence him to death. However, remembering that the Mars Guild contributed $1.5 billion to her annual income, she decided instead to throw him out of the curse array along with his timid companions.

But before she could act, a streak of lightning tore through the Mars Guild elder's chest and vanished into the ground, leaving behind a clean one-inch hole of unknown depth.

A fraction of a second later, his body burst like an overinflated balloon. Blood, minced flesh, and organs rained down—but before they could stain anyone, the gore magically dispersed into the surroundings, as if swallowed by nature. All that remained was a ceremonial knife with a golden hilt adorned with glamorous gems.

Despite its uneven weight distribution, the knife appeared to be a masterfully crafted curse tool. It landed blade-first, cutting into the ground like butter and embedding itself firmly.

"Fuck!" Matthews cursed in shock, turning quickly to trace the path of the lightning, recognizing it instantly.

Sugarmite, Janice, and Delores followed her gaze and saw Ace, holding his signature rifle, hanging by the leg of what looked like a modified Apache curse gadget.

"Kill them all," Ace ordered Specwork before storing away the Rail Rifle. Then, releasing his grip, he let himself fall. As he dropped through the air, he folded his arms to increase his descent speed.

Following its master's order, Specwork began hunting down the colleagues of the Mars Guild elder who had trespassed on its master's property, using its vast arsenal of upgraded, advanced military-grade curse gadgets. The once quiet, cloudy sky was now filled with the roar of gunfire and explosions as Specwork bombarded the curse masters who had dared to cross into the curse array.

Boom!

As he landed, Ace gave a curt nod to the stunned Matthews before turning to Janice with a frown. His voice was deep and laced with disappointment as he asked, "Why weren't they killed the moment they trespassed on the estate?"

"Watch your tone, kid. You just cost me $1.5 billion a year," Janice retorted. Though she doubted the Mars Guild would cut ties over the death of one elder, she still planned to offer them a ten percent discount this month to ease any bad blood before it had a chance to fester.

Ignoring Janice, Ace picked up the curse tool and stored it away. Just then, Matthews grabbed him by the shoulder, spun him around, and yanked him by the collar. Staring him down, she demanded angrily, "Return my Apache and service car that you stole."

"I have no idea what you're talking about. But if you don't let go of me, Ava might really end up without a mother," Ace warned Matthews. He appreciated that she hadn't gone along with Prince's plan for him, but that didn't mean she could disrespect him.

*Baam!* Matthews didn't bother with words. She slammed her fist into Ace's face while her other hand was still gripping his collar. As blood ran down from his broken nose, she glared at him and warned, "Keep my daughter's name out of your mouth."

Ace grinned, clutching the cursed clout in his hand, realizing Matthews had come prepared with a counter to his shadow-folding ability. Slowly, his grin widened, irritating Matthews even more. She raised her fist to punch him again—but before she could strike, Ace was suddenly replaced by a large stone statue of himself. The statue wore the same shirt, its collar still gripped in her hand.

"Holy shit," Janice muttered, instantly pulling out a golden scepter shaped with its ends like an anaconda's head and tail. She hurled it at the statue, activating the curse tool. The scepter transformed into a giant golden anaconda that swallowed the statue whole, much to the shock of both Matthews and Sugarmite.

Moments later, the serpent's belly swelled grotesquely before it abruptly deflated, releasing a puff of smoke as it let out a satisfied burp. The golden snake then morphed back into a scepter and returned to Janice's hand.

"Ace, that was enough C4 to blow this entire estate to dust!" Janice shouted, spinning around to find Ace casually walking out from the avocado orchard lane. Shocked that he would play with the lives of his family over something so petty.

"I meant what I said," Ace replied, surprised Janice had sensed him. Then again, considering she managed the core of the curse array protecting the estate, it made perfect sense.

"You—" Matthews was stunned. She had nearly died, if not for Janice's quick thinking and reaction. As the shock wore off, she felt the urge to rip Ace's head off. But just as she moved to act, her instincts flared in warning. She shifted her gaze to the clouds above.

Having finished hunting down the curse masters that dared to trespass on its master's property, Specwork returned to its master's side, triumphant and bearing trophies. Sensing Matthews' hostility toward Ace, its laser-guided targeting systems locked onto her, ready to fire as it slowly descended from behind the clouds, revealing its imposing, majestic form.

"What's going on?" Delores asked, eyeing Ace with concern. Something about his aura, demeanor, had shifted—he was edgier, more volatile. Opposite to his usual cautious self.

"My clones just updated me on what these assholes did," Ace growled, his voice thick with rage. Then, turning his eyes to Janice, he said coldly, "Tell your uncle—this pawn is coming for the king."

Before either Janice or Delores could respond, Ace jumped into the sky, grabbing hold of one of the Apache's legs. With a twist, it lifted him mid-flight to the cockpit. As the hatch closed, Ace caught sight of Delores giving him a subtle nod—her silent message clear: Do what you have to do. Your family is safe with me.

Before Janice could gather her thoughts or activate the curse array surrounding the estate to stop Ace, Specwork had already disappeared into the sky.

"What the fuck happened at the airport?" Matthews asked, glancing at Delores, trying to piece it all together—unaware that Delores had made the same mistake as she did. Both had assumed Ace was only picking up his sister at the county airport… and both had been terribly wrong.

"How the fuck am I supposed to know? I was here all day," Delores said, avoiding any further explanation.

"Where's Elinor? You sent her to the airport, right? She should know," Janice asked, hoping her cousin had the answers she was looking for.

"Excuse me—sorry to speak out of turn—but is no one going to stop him? He looked like he was out for blood, regardless of the cost," Sugarmite suddenly asked, trying to sound as respectful as possible so as not to offend either of the powerful women present.

"Nope. We need to guard this place. But you guys are free to try," Janice replied bluntly, then turned back to Delores, still waiting for a response.

Hearing Janice's response, Sugarmite quickly pretended she hadn't asked anything. She knew better than to act out of turn with EAD Matthews standing right beside her.

"Let him do as he pleases. I lost everything trying to work with him," Matthews said, stopping herself from chasing after Ace.

She, who once had enough influence to rule this part of the state, was now a joke in her own local C.I.B. headquarters. She, who once held the authority to force a void-tier into submission, was now nothing more than a pawn in Prince's grand scheme. She blamed Ace, even though she knew the true culprit was her mentor. But her mentor was dead, and Ace was still alive—so her anger had a target.

Still getting no answer from Delores, Janice turned her focus toward checking on the Landers—only to find their entire home shielded by multiple layers of golden barriers. Judging by the scene inside, it appeared the Landers had no idea what was happening beyond their walls. They all seemed to be celebrating the return of the prodigal daughter, Lyra Lander.

Well, as Mandy's best friend, Janice was a little biased when it came to Lyra. So, she tended to be more critical of her, even though they had never met.

"Persuade Ace to transfer three times the cost of the Apache curse gadget and the service vehicle to my account. I'll use it to pay off the fines and make sure this doesn't blow up into a full-blown investigation—because if it does, it'll be out of my hands. I won't be able to cover for his whims anymore," Matthews requested of Delores, deciding to take the blame for the missing Apache and service vehicle. However, she had no intention of going broke trying to cover Ace's ass.

"Do you plan to use the transaction to prove his guilt or to bury the matter so it never sees the light of day?" Delores asked.

This wasn't her first time dealing with Matthews, yet she still couldn't tell what the woman was really up to. Delores found it hard to believe that someone who had always prioritized her career over her own family would willingly put a stain on her record for someone entirely unrelated to her—a stranger.

"Well, we'll find out when he transfers the money to my account," Matthews said cryptically, her gaze shifting to Lilith, who had just walked out of the house, having finished her lunch, with honey stains at the corners of her small lips.

Noticing Matthews, little Lilith instinctively geared up for a fight, even though she had handed over all her curse cores to Elinor for safekeeping. Seeing that even a child had her guard up against her, Matthews couldn't help but feel like the world was painting her as the villain from some movie, when in truth, she saw herself as the good guy, upholding the Constitution and protecting her country.

Shaking her head, Matthews turned around and ordered Sugarmite, "Let's go."

"Where is big sister Elinor?" Lilith asked Delores, as she found that the lunch wasn't as fun without Elinor around, but as someone familiar with hunger too well, she finished her lunch regardless.